Daniel Defoe 
General History of the Pyrates 

This classic eighteenth-century work on the Golden Age of Piracy includes stories of Black Bart, Calico Jack, Anne Bonny, and many others.   How did we come to picture pirates donning peg legs, wearing eye patches, and burying treasure? This book, dating back to 1724, features biographies of the notorious buccaneers of the Golden Age of Piracy, and the history, stories, and legends that surround them. Published under the name Capt. Charles Johnson, and widely believed to be authored by Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe, A General History of the Pyrates details the lives of Blackbeard, Black Bart, Anne Bonny, Edward Teach, Mary Read, Jolly Roger, Calico Jack, and many more. Not only was this book the source of many of our present-day concepts of pirate culture, it also served as an influence for authors of pirate fiction, including Robert Louis Stevenson and J. M. Barrie.